Uninvited Valentine
by The-Cheese-Fairy
Summary: Written with Blueorbs998. AU. Season 8. After an unromantic Valentines Day, Paige is feeling slightly depressed. Until an unlikely person steps in to give her a night to remember... Contains PaigeCole.
1. The Rose

_+I do not own Charmed.+_

Hello! To new readers, welcome! To loyal fans, welcome back! My dear friend Ally, also known as 'BlueOrbs998', a fellow fanfic author, co-wrote this story and I must give her 50percent of the credit. If you haven't read her stuff, do it as soon as possible. It is **amazing. **(She's in my favorite author list if you are interested).

I'm currently hiding from you all for one of two reasons-

1- I know I've been bad, and you are probably all really mad at me for not posting the sequel to The Third Child Prophecy, but I must stress how hard my schoolwork has been. And I'm also working on a couple of new projects. Don't worry you will get it… eventually.

2- This fan fiction contains a pairing which is definitely not canon. But both BlueOrbs998 and myself are firm believers in their love. I am **_warning_** you now: **this story contains a Paige and Cole pairing. **If you don't like it, don't read (unless you have an open mind and are going to leave constructive criticism instead of a review which hates on us for the pairing.)

Set during Season 8, but with no Henry (no matter how much I love him). Don't worry, I'd rather die than include Billie in a fic, so we're going to say she does exist, but she's out if town. Okay!

This is just going to be short story- two, maybe three chapters. It was originally for Valentines Day, but we're a bit late in posting! Hah. I'll stop rambling now and let you enjoy, Reviews are welcomed. No flaming please.

**Uninvited Valentine**

Chapter One- The Rose.

Breathlessly, Piper Halliwell darted down the Manor's second flight of stairs. As she ran, the dim light of the chandelier caught on her silken hair, which flew behind her as if she were an action heroine fleeing from a crime scene. But in lilac slippers and a pair of her most comfortable sweat pants, the eldest Charmed One was no Uma Thurman. However, with a smug smirk as she turned the corner, Piper thought to herself that she could kill Bill much quicker that it took Uma… and in a much cleaner way.

Piper's chain of thought was brought to an abrupt end as soon as her foot hit the ground floor. She had known, from the foreboding and heavy footsteps following her, that the colossal demons had chased her down the stairs. Now she felt a prickling heat on the back of her neck, and she knew he had hurtled yet another fireball towards her. But powerful as this demon was, he seemed to have more power than sense. He had not even realized he was walking into a trap.

"Fireball!"

Piper smiled. Another advantage she had over Uma Thurman, was that she had sisters to back her up in a fight.

As the large glowing sphere was enveloped in a shimmering swirl of blue, Piper turned on her heal in time to see a surprised expression emerge on the demon's snakelike face, before he was engulfed in a blaze of his own variety.

Piper squinted, adjusting her eyes from the blinding light which the flames had radiated, back to the normal, dim glow of the electrically lit hallway and she made out the figure of her youngest sister floating down the stairs towards her.

"You okay?" Paige asked, using her hands to dust the debris of the fight from her tie-died cotton vest.

Piper gave a quick nodd, realizing her own shirt had obtained a very small singe on the left shoulder. That had been closer than she had realized. But she brushed it off with a smirk and brought her hand to Paige's chest, where she swept away a wood shaving Paige herself had missed. "Now _that_ was teamwork!" The eldest exclaimed.

An identical giggle escaped both of the sisters' lips as they gave each other a small high five. The celebration was the best part of any vanquish.

"It's official." Paige quipped, as they both instinctively turned to the stairs, preparing to ascend them so that they could check the children were fine. " With vanquishes like these; we rock." She pursed her lips together and shook her head so that her dark curls swept her back.

Piper rolled her eyes and was ready to tell her younger sister that they had always 'rocked', but before she could open her mouth, a chain of words more colourful than Paige's T-shirt flew down the stairs.

"...And I don't get no_ freaking _refund. Son of a-" A voice, which unmistakably belonged to the third of the Charmed Sisters, was whining. It was getting louder, as were the heavy footsteps that came with it. The sight of Phoebe on the stairs reminded Paige of a sullen teenager who's heart had been broken by her teen-crush. Her shoulders arched causing her pink cardigan to slouch down her arms, and her face wore an expression of sheer annoyance. "This is so typical-"

"Hey, hold up." Piper interrupted her younger sister, as she and Paige approached the staircase, their hands- which had been linked- broke apart and they both gazed in curiosity at the middle sibling. The look Phoebe wore tore both of her sisters between wanting to laugh and wanting to interrogate. "What happened?"

"LOOK!" Phoebe failed to notice the fact Paige had placed her bottom lip firmly between her teeth in a desperate bid to stop herself from laughing, and she thrust her hand forward, her ring finger sticking out from the rest which were balled in a tight fist "A broken nail!"

Paige wrinkled her nose and her lips grew into a disdainful, mocking pout. "Oh my dear," She rushed her words, dripping with rich, smooth sarcasm. "Should I orb you to the emergency room and get you a nail transfusion?"

Phoebe looked at Paige through narrowed eyes. "Oh shut up!" She snarled, before wincing and clutching her finger once more. "It just hurts!" She pouted her lips in a childlike fashion and continued, trumping down the final few stairs. "And not that just! These are a hundred and five dollar nails! I don't get refunded!"

Piper assumed the quickened speed at which Phoebe had said the final part of her sentence was supposed to be so the eldest did not hear it correctly. But hear it she did, and her eyebrows shot up in disbelief and annoyance. "A hundred and five bucks? Are you crazy, woman!" Piper gave Phoebe's shoulder a playful slap, but with more force than was required, "What on earth possessed you to spend _THAT_ much on fake nails?"

"Well…" Phoebe looked hesitantly at Paige, who was still struggling to hold in her laughter, and then at Piper, who's normally tranquil chocolate eyes were baring holes into her skull. This made her continue. She knew by now never to infuriate her big sister. "…I was reading… and I read a lot of guys think finger nails are sexy..." A crimson blush danced into her cheeks. "I decided that if it helped me in my journey to find a guy, I should get my nails done. So I went to the highest rated saloon that I could find..."

As Phoebe continued her long winded explanation, Piper's angry eyes softened, but, still staring at Phoebe, they came to rest on something else. Apparently Paige had noticed too as her eyes were following Piper's to the small ponytail at the back of Phoebe's head.

"Uhm," Paige whispered, shuffling herself closer to Piper, and bringing her index finger up to point directly at the small trail of smoke emitting from their sister's head. She knew it was nothing serious to worry about so an amused grin spread across her face, matching the one Piper wore. "Our sister's hair is smoking."

"Oh boy," Piper, being the noble person that she was, placed a hand on Phoebe's forearm and gave her a reluctant smile. "Uh Phoebe..."

"I'm almost done." Phoebe snapped impatiently, apparently unaware of her burning hair. "Anyway, she offered me this-"

"I think you-" Piper tried again.

"-great deal. And I thought 'well I better-"

"--No really, your ha-" And again.

"Please Piper, hold on, it gets better-" No luck.

"For GOD SAKES! YOUR HAIR IS ON FIRE!" Paige finally exclaimed in annoyance, but the grin was still apparent on her porcelain face.

That was the trick. Phoebe remained silent for a moment, and her bewildered mahogany eyes blinked several times before she reluctantly darted her eyes sideways and drew her hand towards her ponytail.

"OH MY GOD! PUT IT OUT!"

Frantic, Phoebe began slapping the back of her own head, giving her the appearance of some sort of ape. In her mad panic, Phoebe was unaware that she had begun jumping up and down on the spot and she seemed not to care that her flailing arms were close to hitting both of her sisters as they attempted to approach and help her.

"Looks like that fireball that missed you earlier, didn't miss you." Paige said with a smirk, finally flattening the small flame in her older sister's hair. "It singed your hair." She stated obviously, just to irritate Phoebe further.

"Well thank you for noticing!" The middle Charmed One replied with an unamused sneer, folding her arms across her chest. But when her baby sister gave her a set of huge puppy dog eyes and a look of apology Phoebe knew was fake, but accepted, she was almost amused by her own idiocy. "I'm just gonna go upstairs, take a shower..." She told them, "And put out my hair...And fix-" With a disgusted grumble she pulled on her ring finger again "-This."

Piper's face took on a patronizing smile and she gave Phoebe's shoulder a curt pat. "Yes, you do that" And then, shaking her head, she watched Phoebe skulk up the stairs. Sometimes she wondered if Phoebe learned her traits from Wyatt and Chris, instead of the toddlers learning from her.

"What a day already!" Paige enthused, grinning as she wrapped her arm around Piper's shoulder. "11:30 and I've already gotten some Valentines Day Demons!"

"Guess a card is better, huh?"

Slyly, Paige licked her lips and made eye contact with her sister. "Well I got a card, too…" She confessed smugly.

"Really?" Piper enquired, full attention gained by Paige. "From who!"

Paige couldn't resist the urge at the corners of her mouth to smile as she thought of her sweet little valentines. "Wyatt."

Piper's jaw began to protrude forward as it opened in shock. "He gave you one?" Her voice held confusion and pride. "He didn't make me one!"

"He's three!" Paige defended her eldest nephew, amused. "We told him all yesterday about what today was; I guess with that active brain he decided to make his Auntie Paige a cute picture. He even said Happy Valentines Day." A grin spread from ear to ear on the youngest Charmed One's face holding the pride only an aunty could have.

Piper was amused, but shocked. Her eldest son was a very quiet child. "He said that? Really?"

"Well not in so many words." Paige replied. "I believe it was: Hap Vally Day."

In mock offence, Piper gave a pout reminiscent of one Phoebe had just worn. "I guess I have to teach Chris how to draw without eating the crayon, and that his Mommy is better than Auntie Paige."

"Hey!" Mock offence was something the Halliwell sisters did well. "You still want me to rent that movie tonight?" Paige pried.

"Yes..." Piper batted her eyelashes and gave a sheepish grin. "_Sorry_."

The teasing glare Paige gave her sister followed Piper all the way to the sink, where the eldest Charmed one grinned maliciously and turned the hot tap on full power, not caring that the water droplets sparked her shirt.

Paige giggled, but stepped foreward, "I'm sure Phoebe doesn't-"

She was cut off by a loud squeal of horror from upstairs. Apparently Phoebs did not appreciate cold showers. "AIIIIIEEEEEEEE!"

Piper turned the tap of quickly, but continued laughing. "Oops." She said innocently smirking.

"...Like that." Paige finished.

**xxxxx**

It was a rather tight squeeze on the sofa of the Halliwell's living room as the three sisters cuddled together with a large dish of popcorn and a vast assortment of fizzy drinks- strictly non-alcoholic to Paige's request. Phoebe, who was sitting to Piper's left, had her head rested on her sister's shoulder and she was absently stretching onto Piper's lap for another fistful of popcorn every few minutes. Piper ran her finger's through Phoebe's soft curls, her eyes glued to the screen as she too consumed vast quantities of the snacking substance. Paige, on the other hand, was avoiding the popcorn. She was unusually picky about certain snacks. Her face, unlike her sisters, as she watched the opening of the film wore a look of perplexity.

"Why are we watching Back to the Future on the most romantic day of the year?" She asked, drawing Piper and Phoebe's gaze from the television. "This movie? Hardly romantic."

Piper rolled her eyes in that characteristic Halliwell way and turned to face her youngest sister. "First off," She began. "Today? Not so romantic." Her arm gestured wildly around the room, as if trying to emphasize the fact there were no men in the Manor. "And secondly, I'm a single mother for now! A girl can dream about Michael J. Fox!"

Paige's eyebrows shot up and her mouth became a thin, disgusted line. "Okay, that's sick."

"Come on!" A smirk emerged on Piper's face and she gave Paige a small, prying nudge. "Don't tell me you never day dreamed about some celeb when you were with Kyle?"

"Well, no." She replied sassily, "I was too busy with Kyle to dream at all." Paige soon regretted that statement. Piper and Phoebe, as if on cue, let out synchronized "Ooh"s, causing Paige's mouth to give a revolted twitch. "No, gutter minds. Not like _THAT_."

Phoebe looked playfully relieved and she sank back into the soft, suede cushion of the sofa. "I was hoping you'd say that," She said, before the tone of her voice changed into a more derisive one. "Or else I woulda' had to get up and go puke."

"Shut up!" Paige snapped. For the first time her hand dove towards the popcorn bucket and a fistful was soon making its way towards Phoebe.  "Hey now!" Piper broke up the argument before it could become anything serious, all the while resisting her urge to laugh at Phoebe's popcorn covered blouse. "We are having a sisterly night! Can we NOT bicker?"

Paige nodded, but as soon as Piper's gaze had gone to rest on her other sister her doe brown eyes gave a disdainful roll. Phoebe took a similarly childish response and extended her bottom lip into a pout, averting her eyes from her big sister's and proceeding to pick at her broken nail. It was not long, however until all three sisters were laughing again. What harm was a small sisterly bicker, anyway?

"Hey, you know," Phoebe soon interrupted the film again, "This reminds me of my worst Valentines Day - ever."

Piper let out a loud, reminiscent 'HAH!' and pressed down on the pause button for the second time. "Let me guess, Crab guy?"  Phoebe gave a groan of horror, and, under Paige's curious gaze, began explaining when Piper had meant. "I was 17," She started, "And it was the day of Romance. My highschool sweetheart takes me to 'Kings of Sea'" The shake of her head and small wince she gave was enough to tell Paige that the date had definitely not been successful. "I spent the whole night in silence, trying to eat crab legs. Nasty things..."  As Paige gave a shudder at the thought of seafood and Phoebe pursed her lips in disgust at the memory, Piper gave a giggle. "And I do believe it was Prue who had to verbally punk him out after he broke your heart three weeks later."

"Damn that Cassie Hart." Phoebe spat, almost choking on her popcorn, but laughing along with Piper anyway.

Paige suddenly sank back into the cushion, feeling slightly lost. "Okay, I'll just pretend I know who that is and nod along..."

"Well don't worry about it, it was highschool," Phoebe reassured her only younger sibling, "all is forgotton." As she said this, Phoebe was unaware of her fist subconsciously tightening around her handful of popcorn. When she looked down at her hand in preparation to eat, she quickly and cooly slipped her hand back into the bucket and let the crumbs drop off. "All forgotton."

Taking the opportunity to dig further into her sisters' pasts, Paige leaned forward again in keen interest. "So Piper, what about your worst Valentine?"

Piper visibly winced "It wasn't that bad, just..."

"It sucked."Phoebe bluntly finished, with a curt nod.

"Yeah, a little bit. There was a guy, I was about 22, and he took me in this boat on a lake." Paige smiled at the romantic thought but the hard glare her sister gave her aroused her curiosity, "Everything was fine utnil the boat got a hole..." Piper explained.

"Yikes." The youngest Charmed one grimaced.

"Mmhm. And as soon as he saw it, he went overboard and started to swim!" Piper's voice raised slightly. "Left me... all alone."

"No way!" Paige exclaimed in disbelief. If she had known her sisters then she knew she would have given that guy a piece of her mind.

"Luckily there were other couples out, and one of the men was sweet enough to come get me and save me from getting wet!" All three laughed, knowing that swimming of any sort was not Piper's favorite thing to do, especially fully clothed in a lake full of boats.

"Prue had a pretty bad one." Phoebe said. She shared a knowing look with Piper and carried on with her story. "Andy took her to the circus, remember?" Both of Paige's sisters laughed, but Paige remained slightly bemused.

"Prue didn't like the cirus?"

"Well... she didn't like... clowns." Piper offered an explanation. Paige could see why the situation was humorous now.

"She was 16 at the time, she couldn't just openly admit a fear of clowns to her boyfriend."

"So she went, and didn't sleep for a week."

A look of deep thought appeared on Phoebe's face and she shuffled forward on the couch so that she could make clear eye contact with Piper "And it all stemmed from that doll she seen the toy store." Her brow knitted in curiosity and amusement, "She swore it talked to her."

"Heh." Paige breathed an amused sigh, "Now I bet you would believe someone if they said a doll talked to them."

"You know what? We probably would." Piper agreed.

"...how do we know the doll DIDN'T talk to her?" An identical look of fear and confusion swept briefly across the Halliwell sisters' faces, but they soon all reached the same conclusion and let out a simple "Nah." And Phoebe took it upon herself to change the subject. "Okay, Missy Paige - worst Valentines Day experience?"

Phoebe couldn't help but notice Paige's sudden discomfort as she wriggled slightly in her seat. "Ah. It's nothing." She finally said, turning away.

"Hey, no fair!" Piper protested.

"Really, I don't talk about it." Paige insisted, growing ever more uncomfortable.

"Did someone dump you?" Phoebe asked, knowing that being dumped on valentines day would possibly be the worst thing that could happen.  "No." Again Paige shifted in her seat and she allowed her soft raven hair to fall over her reddening face."Just - drop it."

"Come on Paige!" Phoebe pried nosily, "We pratically know nothing of your past."

Paige heaved a sigh and tilted her head backwards so that her eyes could not connect with either sister. Reluctantly she began to recall the worst valentines day she had ever experienced. "My boyfriend... Doug." She started, drawing her hands together on her lap "... Died when I was 16."

That caught Phoebe and Piper off guard. Suddenly, neither knew exactly what to say and Phoebe's hand gripped tightly to Piper's forearm. A guilty blanket settled on them both, trapping them in an uneasy silence as both processed the horrifying information.

Paige saw her sisters' sudden looks of pity and she continued, hoping to ease them slightly. "It was a little while before my parents died. He wanted to buy a motorcyle, I said no at first, then he took me out test driving and I loved it. But he was such a dumbass when he drove..." She paused for a moment to brush her hand through her hair. "He was just coming to pick me up, and he crashed. That was it."

Piper laid a gentle hand on Paige's shoulder, and gave her a look of utmost sympathy. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too." Paige sighed, "And to this day... I don't know if that was the worst Valentine's day of my life... or the luckiest. I could have easily been on the bike with him, and I wasn't."

"Aw, sweetie. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"It's all right." Paige stopped Phoebe from saying any more. She wanted to change the subject. "It's over now. That was over 15 years ago, I can move on." Paige gave a half hearted smile, but her stomach was lurching. She knew the night had suddenly been spoiled and she really had the urge to go to bed. Talk of death always brought up a sore spot in the young witch/whitelighter. "Eh, you know what, I'm beat. It's been fun ladies, but I'm headed to bed."

"Paige, you sure?" Phoebe's guilt had suddenly peaked. She felt awful for making Paige talk about valentines now, even though she knew her sister would recover in no matter of time.  "Yeah, don't go because you're upset."

"No, really," Paige shook her head. Their concern comforted her. She knew she was probably over reacting, but she couldn't help being perturbed by thoughts of death. She had lost too many people in her life to think about it comfortably- Doug, her parents, future Chris, Kyle, and... "I'm tiiired. All day of stuffing myself, playing with the boys, watching cliched romance movies and-" She cut herself off and gestured with an upturned nose to the television, "Back to the Future. I think my body needs a rest."

"I wish you would stay and talk." Phoebe pleaded, batting her eyelashes.

Paige proceeded to pat Phoebe on the head in a patronizing manner. "Don't worry about me; please don't. It hurts but I let it go a long time ago." When they continued to look worried, Paige gave both of her sisters quick pecks on the cheek, and turned towards the door, only allowing the cheerful words "Goodnight guys" to pass her lips as she sauntered away.

The remaining sisters replied with their own good nights, but neither was as cheerful as Paige's had been. They both followed her with their eyes until she disappeared from view on the staircase, and they turned to each other with knitted brows.

"Oh God. I wonder what else we don't know." Phoebe said with an almost angry sigh.

"I worry about her sometimes. I really do." Piper agreed, "So much we don't know. And I don't think we'll ever get to know."

"We should talk to her in the morning." Phoebe suggested, brushing her forehead with the back of her hand.

"...I don't know." Piper shimmied up the sofa, filling the place where Paige had sat moments before. "Maybe she moved on? That would be just stirring the pot. Maybe what's in the past, should stay there."

"I guess so."  "Lets just finsih the movie, then we'll head to bed. Deal?"

"Deal."

In a knowing silence, they both turned their attention back to the TV screen and Piper flicked the play button on the remote. As they had been before, they slouched onto each other for comfort, sharing a sisterly hug, until Piper's head popped upwards in a sudden curiosity.

"Wait, where's Billie?" She asked.

"Went to her parents house...I think." Phoebe replied without even averting her gaze from the television.

"For Valentines Day? That's sad."

"Yeah."

And then they sank back, once more, into their film watching routine, hands absently reaching for popcorn and coke.

"Hey!" Piper let out another exclamation and turned to face Phoebe. "Who crushed half of the popcorn into pieces?"

Phoebe's eyes widened as she sank further back into the sofa and tightened her lips. "It was Paige..."

**xxxxx**

Paige stepped silently into her bedroom, wiping her glistening eyes free of tears which she had not let fall. She peered through the darkness, stifling a yawn and not even attempting to flick the light-switch on. The darkness in her bedroom was unusually comforting. She lifted her T-shirt over her head and absently threw it onto her easel so that it draped over the bare canvas.

Shuffling across the dark carpet, her outstretched hand grasped the door handle of Paige's ancient wardrobe. She didn't even know if her pajamas were in the wardrobe. Heck, in her tired state she wouldn't have been surprised to find the magical land of Narnia hidden behind her racks of clothing. And quite frankly she could have fallen asleep in her jeans and bra if she wanted.

Before she could reach into her wardrobe, however, her attention was caught by a silver shimmer on her bed. Her brow narrowed as she turned towards it. What on earth was shining on her duvet?

When she saw it a mixed feeling of curiosity and glee swelled in her stomach. A single red rose. Each petal seemed to be the perfect shape, intricately entwining with the velvet petal beside it. Even in the dark the vibrant red of the petals was noticeable. Never had Paige laid eyes on such a flawless flower... But where had it come from?

"What the..."

Shakily, she shuffled towards her bed. Next to the rose lay a small envelope, with 'Paige' scrawled on the front. Without thinking, her bare arm shot forward and snatched the card from the bed, careful not to harm the stunning rose in the slightest. Her curiosity was aroused even further when she tore open the envelope to reveal blank white card. Not a single picture decorated it. But inside, a message had been written. One which Paige read more times than she could even count.

_"A beautiful Rose for a beautiful girl. Yours truly."_

After her eyes had scanned it for what seemed like the hundredth time, Paige lowered the hand which held the card to her side and gave a loud gulp. Her head was suddenly spinning and her emotions were a mass of confusion. Carefully, her hand grasped the rose and the card and placed them gently on her dresser next to the snowglobe which resided there.

"Well I know Wyatt couldn't have written me that." She smirked despite herself and tapped her fingers together, eyes still lingering on the mysterious gift. But when a large yawn escaped her mouth she came to the decision that sleep was her main priority. Anyway, the rose had probably been Piper and Phoebe's meager attempt to give her some valentines cheer. She knew all to well it was what sisters did. After all, she had been the one to send Phoebe her mystery valentines card last year.

"What a way to end the day." She said to no one in particular. "Sleep - deal with it tomorrow." And that had been exactly what Paige had planned on doing. The sooner she got cuddled up under her awaiting duvet the sooner dreams would engulf her and the sooner she could come out of this unusual mood. That was until he arrived.

Her nostrils were suddenly tingling under the familiar scent which had just filled her room. It was an instantly recognizable smell, but Paige was having difficulty registering it in her mind; the musty cologne which always seemed to be masking the stench of stale smoke. That smell which, no matter how hard she had always tried to deny it, had always sent a chill dancing down her spine. It was unmistakably his smell, but Paige refused to believe it.

Head still spinning and exhilarating fear still coursing through her veins, Paige turned to face her bed. Maybe she had drank one too many cokes- her mother had always told her they made her act weird. Maybe this was all her tired mind playing a joke on her... But what her eyes came to rest on assured her that it most certainly was not.

Paige found her path blocked. Inches from her face resided the muscular chest of a tall, brooding male. Being this close to him sent her sense of smell into overdrive. His black suit jacket was so strong with his cologne that it made Paige dizzy. And the familiarity of the way his white shirt clung to his chest almost caused bile to rise in her throat. Under the collar of his shirt resided a slightly askew bow tie, and when Paige tried to avert her gaze downwards she was met by the striking shine of his black shoes. This could only be one man. But it could not be real. She didn't want it to be real. She had hated this man with the fiery passion of one hundred burning suns. She closed her eyes tightly as is hoping that he would disappear. It was _not_ him.

"You are not real, not, not. not, not, NOT REAL." She spat quietly, taking a frightened step backwards and suddenly becoming very conscious of the fact she was only wearing a bra. When she could back away no further without having to sit on her dresser, Paige allowed her arms to fly to her chest and cover herself. But at the same time she opened her eyes. He was still there, dressed to the nines in a dazzling tuxedo, wearing the grin he had never parted with in life.

"Aww, crap."

His grin grew, and his dazzling blue eyes travelled down to her almost bare chest, which resulted in his eyebrows rocketing upwards. "Nice to see you too." Cole replied.

**xxxxx**

End Chapter One. As I said before, reviews are welcome. Tune in sometime soon for the real Paige/Cole interactions. Toodles, dudes.

It's good to be back!


	2. Run

****If I did own Charmed, I wouldn't anymore because** cancelled. **But I don't. So there.****

Hello! I'm hoping that you haven't forgotten about this fic since it's been two months. But I'm sure your memories will be refreshed now. Since writing this, Ally (That's BlueOrbs998- the amazing co-writer) and I have discovered countless more Cole/Paige (Or 'Fated Hearts' as we fangirls like to call them. Hah.) shippers. And we're glad we can share this fic with you!

This was initially the final chapter, but –heck- we decided to make it a little longer (just by a couple chapters though, don't get too excited.) Enjoy! And reviews are very welcome!

**Uninvited Valentine**

Chapter Two- Run

Paige was in such a state of sheer shock that her senses of speech were temporarily disabled. A meek, whirring noise was emitted from her throat as she took a step backwards, but the seemingly timid sound did not match the furious glare Paige shot towards Cole… If he was even there at all.

Maybe she was just seeing things! That was it! This was her mind playing a sick and twisted joke on her! Maybe she was asleep in her bed and she was enduring some horrifying nightmare! _Maybe _she had even somehow gotten herself sent back in time!

…Or maybe Cole Turner was actually alive and standing in her bedroom.

Unfortunately, the latter seemed like the only feasible explanation. Cole was back… again.

Quickly, her mind beginning to function, Paige ripped the vase of paper flowers from her dresser and tipped it upside-down. Wyatt's valentine's gift scattered all over the floor, but the convenience of the heavy object she now held in her hand was too great to feel guilty about her nephew just yet.

"You have a total of 5 seconds to leave or die." Defiantly she spat her words at him. He looked almost… sorry?

The tall, dark and handsome ex-demon (or maybe just demon; Paige was unsure as of yet) brought a hand up to his heart and gave a meek smile. He knew Paige would never be open to what he had to say. "I won't be here long, I just want-"

"Save it." Paige cut through his voice, not even making eye contact with her visitor. "Why aren't you dead? Wait - don't answer that, I don't care." This time she did meet his eyes, but hers were too full of venom to even notice a trace of the compassion which resided in his. "Just leave."

_/I'll sing it one last time for you __  
__Then we really have to go/_

Cole, trying to look as though what she had just said had not phased him, threw his arms up to his sides in a gesture of innocence. Unluckily for him, having once been the Source of All Evil, apparently not may gestures of innocence looked convincing in the slightest, as Paige was beginning to prove. It seemed that with every fracture of a move Cole made, the youngest of the Charmed Ones would take another threatening step towards him, her vase still looming in her right hand. Cole would have joked about the unusual role reversal, had he not been so perturbed by Paige… who seemed to have forgotten about her choice in clothes, or lack thereof. 

"Uhm…"

When Paige saw his sudden discomfort, she almost forgot about her desire to kill him (again.)- Or at least cause him harm. She couldn't figure out why on earth he was suddenly averting his eyes to the carpet. "What the hell are you playing at?"

Eyes still glued to the floor, Cole gestured with his hand to Paige's chest, a crimson flush creeping through his cheeks. "…You might want to…uh, put your shirt back on?"

Paige narrowed her eyes and remained glaring at Cole, but confusion was also sweeping through her. Realising what he had just said, her head shot downwards and she inhaled a shocked gasp. "Shit!" 

With no more than one violent word, she spun as quickly as she could possibly manage and scuttered towards her bed. Her cheeks were blushing more furiously than Cole's. She had just been threatening him, wearing her _bra?_

Self consciousness was soon the prominent emotion coursing through her veins, and to save herself any further embarrassment she turned to make sure Cole was not taking advantage of her humility. His eyes were not shut.

"Stop looking at me!" She screeched in a rage.

"Sorry." Cole uttered surprisingly genuinely, slapping a hand over his eyes. It remained there even when Paige turned her back to him again. He had to respect her if she was going to listen to him.

"Why does this crazy stuff _ALWAYS_ happen to me?" Paige kept muttering to herself as she pulled her shirt back over her head. Cole resisted his urge to smirk.

"Can I open yet?"

"NO!" Of course, her shirt was on, but she waited until she had straightened it out and smoothed it down before she made a move. "Now." She made small coughing noise in the back of her throat as she cleared it before picking up her vase once again and taking a step towards Cole.

"You can't hurt me with that, you know." Cole stuttered as he peered through his eyelashes. He opened his eyes fully and, once more, attempted to look innocent by throwing his arms into the air.

"_Really?_" Whether she believed him or not, Paige certainly did not let her stance drop. With a deafening _WHACK_ she had slammed the vase off of the nearby counter and caused shards of jagged glass to fly in all directions. What was left in her hand seemed perfect. "How about now?"

Cole knew no other way of responding, and gave a nervous chuckle. He thrust his hands into his pockets so that Paige would be unable to notice the clammy sweat forming on them. "They have a saying in Limbo." He began. This was where Paige and Cole had a similarity: when a situation became uncomfortable, a joke would emerge. "Painful words and threats may hurt my soul, but sharp glass vases can never hurt me."

"That's catchy." Paige sneered, clearly not amused; the vase was now mere centimetres from Cole's neck.

"Do you have anger issues with me?" He asked, trying to mask his discomfort.

Paige's eyes narrowed for what seemed to be the thousandth time "I have death issues with you." Her head cocked to the side. "You. Won't. Die."

"Hate to tell ya," He rose his left eyebrow. Clearly he was going to tell her anyway: "I really am dead."

The arrogance was too convincing to be an act so Paige finally decided to give up on the vase, no matter how much fun it had been just to see this, this _man- _if he could even be called that!- squirm. "How?"

"Oh... you _vanquished_ me."

"I know that! I meant... how... why are you... here?"

Finally, civilised conversation! Cole's shoulders dropped to their natural position and he began to relax a little. "Because," He began, as if it had been as clear as day, "It's Valentines Day: _The most_ romantic day of the year." Removing a hand from his pocket, he placed it slightly suspiciously behind his back. When he revealed his hand to Paige again, however, in it was not something she had been expecting, or particularly hoping to see: Yet another perfect red rose.

"...That was you?" She asked in disbelief.

"Mmhm." When Paige hesitated to accept her gift, Cole extended his arm further towards her. This only caused her eyes to become more accusing. Cole felt like sighing; with Paige, he could never win. "It's for you." He assured her, "It's not poison." 

Gradually, almost as if she was moving in slow motion, Paige reached out to take the rose from the hand of a man who had once been her worst nightmare. The most unusual thing was, she was finding it difficult to suppress a smile…

_/You've been the only thing that's right __  
__In all I've done/_

"This is really weird…"

"I can explain, honestly." This was good! Progress was being made! He just needed to convince her again, "But believe me, I'm as dead as Prue."

…Oops. That had been a bad move. Paige shot Cole a worse scowl than the one she had given him when he had first appeared.

"Sorry." He winced, "Bad analogy."

Paige brushed it off, but her suspicion was back. "How did you get here?"

Cole shrugged and forced himself to look at her, trying desperately to win her back onto his side. "Strange, isn't it?" He mused, "They let me come back for 24 hours."

"_They?_" 

"Elders." 

Paige almost choked on air. "That was…" She blinked in disbelief, "Oddly _nice_ of them."

"So are you going to let me explain why?" He took a step towards her. She didn't flinch. "Or do I have to fear your mighty vase?" 

"Just..." Overcome with her own discomfort, she began to gesture wildly at her bed. She was feeling significantly calmer- and significantly more confused- but still, she knew not to trust Cole. "Sit down and do it quickly."

Casually, Cole sauntered the few steps it took to reach the bed and took a seat. His calm exterior infuriated Paige something chronic, but she tried not to let it show as she loomed over him, staring through hard eyes

"If this isn't a good reason," She stated threateningly, "I'm vanquishing your limbo ass."

"Here come those anger issues again." Cole mused with a chuckle, only causing Paige's eyes to narrow further. "I swear it could have been Piper talking there."

"Shut up." Paige said sternly. This night was definitely not going as she had hoped it would…

"You even look like her now!" Cole continued, provoking Paige further and finding endless amusement in her reaction.

"Damn it, Cole! I'm about to - in three seconds – go and get my sisters." 

Cole smirked. The arrogant look on his face, in itself, was enough to make Paige groan. "You can't." 

_/And I can barely look at you __  
__But every single time I do/_

The witch-whitelighter's porcelain face drained of what little colour it held. Her stomach lurched and her eyes closed in utter dread. "Why...?" She questioned, "I swear, if you did something-" 

"No, no! I simply... sealed us off." He signalled around the room with his hand and allowed a smile to play at the corners of his mouth; apparently the Halliwell women were still as protective as ever about their sisters.

"…What?" 

"Nobody can hear you talk," Cole explained. Paige's shoulders sank. "Or hear _me_ talk. Or see us. Or get in or get out…"

"…I hate you."

"Well you only have to do it for one more hour. I go at midnight." 

Paige's face held an expression which conveyed anger, disgust and aversion. Her fists clenched tightly and her mouth fell into a small 'o'. "One hour? No. Freaking. _WAY_!"

"One hour won't be so bad." Cole tried to reassure her with a cocky grin. She still glared at him. "And I'm hoping you won't have your anger issues with me by the time it's up…"

His remark went unheard as Paige turned her back on him. "God, this sucks." Her feet began to shuffle across the floor and she brought her hands up to massage her throbbing temples. "I mean this is the mother of all sucks;" Her hands moved to her stomach and she found herself leaning against her dresser to keep herself from hitting something. "I could vomit!"

"There's nothing wrong with my cologne!" Cole replied in mock offence. He had been watching her every move with great interest. Something about the way she held herself; about the was she shuffled her feet across the floor and still managed to look graceful; even the way her arms seemed to constantly dart from place to place was enticing. He did not know how to react to Paige other than to do what he did best: make a sarcastic remark.

"No, it's you!" Paige retorted. This was too much for her to handle. "You- you... _why the hell are you bothering me!_ " She turned to face him again and glared daggers into his eyes, "You have an ex-wife, and I much as I would hate for her to see you again, GO BOTHER HER!"

Cole could not say he was not slightly taken aback by that outburst, but- offended as he may have been- he kept his task in mind and remained level headed. "I already dealt with her."

It took a moment for what Cole had said to register in Paige's rage filled mind, but when it did the angry expression on her face turned –almost as suddenly as the flick of a switch- turned to one of utter bewilderment. "What!"

"And Piper too." Cole raised both of his eyebrows and glanced at Paige, wearing an expression which screamed 'you want to talk now, huh?'

"Right..." Apparently, she did not believe him.

"Seriously." He assured her with a nod.

Her mouth hung open like a goldfish. "W-what? How -- when?" 

"Not too long ago." Cole began to explain. Again, he was beginning to find humour in the situation. "Remember the whole Leo 'fall from grace' thing?" He waited for Paige to give a confused but understanding grunt before he continued, "I'm the one that saved your sister." He had to restrain himself from snorting in laughter as Paige's face compressed in puzzlement. _This_ was going to confuse her even more: "Saved one from death, and saved the _other one_ from giving up on love."

Paige's eyes did a series of quick, repetitive blinks. "…What?"

"Ugh." It appeared that Paige's extent of talking had now become one-word sentences, and the word 'what' seemed to be featuring quite regularly. It was beginning to try what little patience Cole Turned had. "Limbo!" He exclaimed surprisingly loudly. "Piper was stuck in Limbo with me. I coached her on what to do."

"You're such a freaking liar!" Paige hissed, not even waiting seconds before retaliating. "If that had happened, I would've known!" 

Cole's brow furrowed. He was slightly shocked by Paige's outburst; did Paige not know? "Huh? They didn't tell you…?"

"No!" 

"I know what I did, though." Cole persisted. Paige's harsh glare was fading quickly from her face and he took the opportunity to describe to her what he had assumed she already knew. "I helped her 'die' so Leo would return." Paige still looked confused, and, for a brief moment-at the mention of Leo's name-, a sad look washed over her. Cole rolled his eyes. "Although I'm not sure it did much good…"

Paige gave an aggravated grunt of disbelief and spun a three-hundred-and-sixty degree circle, with her hands pressed firmly to her temples. She had the sickening feeling that by the end of the night her head was going to explode in emotion overload: first she had felt guilty for ruining 'sister night; then she had been bemused even further by a mysterious Valentines gift, which had out to be from the one (dead!) man she had least expected- and wanted- to see! And now she was discovering- by mouth of Cole, (!)- That her big sister had been keeping secrets from her for almost a year! "She - seriously - saw you?"

"Sure did." He nodded, watching, with concern, Paige's emotions flash across her face, "She _really_ didn't tell you?"

"No! And I can't believe that they wouldn't tell me something important like this..."

Cole flashed a smug grin. "I'm important?"

_/I know we'll make it anywhere __  
__Away from here/_

"No, not you! Just the fact she _saw_ you." Paige did not realise how insensitive her response was until after she had said it, and even then she was too intrigued to care. "-Wait ...You saved _who_ from giving up on love?"

"Phoebe, of course." He replied dryly. All this questioning was becoming rather tedious; he would never achieve what he was sent here to do if Paige would not cooperate.

"You saw Phoebe _too?_"

"Why? Are you jealous?" He smiled flirtatiously with her but her enraged glower knocked him from his high horse. "And no. Actually, I made someone do the dirty work for Me."

"Do I really want to know...?" This was the point when Paige felt the need to groan yet again.

"You knew him, I believe." Cole hesitated, unsure of how well Paige was going to take this news, "His name was Drake."

Paige's head, which had been pointed directly towards the carpet, shot upwards and her eyes bulged open. "Drake?" She gasped, "As in m-my-- P-Phoebe's Drake!"

"That Drake. Ex-demon, worked at Magic School, had three weeks to live..." 

"No freaking way." Her tone no longer sounded angry, but surprised, and almost as if realisation was dawning on her. "_You _sent him?" 

"I was also the one to get him the deal with the Sorcerer; that was all me. After I saw Phoebe pushing herself farther away from love, I figured I needed to do something about it. Because, lets just admit it, as messed up as our relationship was, we loved each other. And Phoebe really hasn't had a relationship like me since I... y'know, died."

Paige nodded slowly and took up the opportunity to gain an upper hand in the snide remark department, "Yeah, I know." Her turn to smirk now, "I, 'y'know' _vanquished_ you." 

"Come on, have a heart, Paige. Don't bring up that sore spot." Though he spoke in a sarcastic tone, his eyes held some sincerity.

Paige noticed it, but tried to forget she had. "I had to, y'know, vanquish you, because you went, y'know, _CRAZY_."

This left a tense silence lingering in the room for what seemed more like hours than minutes. The two refused to look at each other. Paige's attention again turned to the carpet, and the red duvet on which he sat suddenly fascinated Cole. It had been so long since he had been in her presence that he had almost forgotten how hot tempered they both became when they were near one another.

"See," It was Cole who spoke first, "I knew you had unsettled feelings and issues with Me."

"_I._" Of course that was leading to another angry reaction, "_Do._" Cole had known it would. "_Not._" Her face grew an angry red, and Cole could have sworn he saw a tear grace her eye before she turned sharply away from him.

At this point his concern reached its peak and he rose quickly from the bed. Although Cole had found amusement in tormenting Paige, he had not meant to infuriate her to this extent. Softly, he took small steps towards her. When he placed his hand on her shoulder he was mildly surprised that she did not flinch or push him away. With a tender, apologetic gaze over her shoulder, and a meek, sorry smile, he whispered to her. "I'm here only to make amends."

As soon as the final word had left his mouth Paige had aggressively turned to face him. In fact, she was so close to him that if Paige had been any taller their faces would have touched. She did not look even mildly comforted by his words. "Sit back down." She spat firmly.

Impressed by her confidence, but on the verge of giving up, Cole quickly sat back down on the bed. With a dispirited shrug of his shoulders and a disheartened blink of his eyes, he tried to make eye contact. She was hovering over him again.

"The only reason I'm going to even _try_ to talk to you is because of Drake." A reluctant grumble ended her sentence and it took all of her will not to roll her eyes. "If he could,"  
Her face hardened in reluctance, "…Guess I can."

Cole smiled, and was finally able to relax in a small amount of joy, "Finally."

_/Light up, light up __  
__As if you have a choice __  
__Even if you cannot hear my voice __  
__I'll be right beside you dear/ __  
_

**-End Part Two- **

AN- The lyrics used in this chapter are 'Run' by Snow Patrol, which I do not own either. As I said before, reviews are welcome. And please don't ask about LOM. It's a long story (no, that is not a pun…) and I suck.


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